Trekking the Torres del Paine Circuit - Make it happen!

Torres del Paine is just one hop short of Tierra del Fuego, land of fire, at the very bottom of South America. It’s not the most logistically easy trek to get to and we did a LOT of research in planning this trip. But it’s so very worth it! We took 11 days off work, were away for 16 days total and walked for 8 days. It took 5 travel days to get there and back, and we had a few days spare to explore. It’s a moderate route. No technical climbing experience is needed but you need to be reasonably fit and have some long-distance walking experience. You need to carry everything you’ll need in with you as this is a remote trail, so that additional pack weight makes the walking more challenging. We used the Cicerone Guide when planning our trip.

​How long to takeThe majority of folk who visit Torres del Paine walk the W route, which can be completed in 4-5 days. Only 2% of visitors to the park complete the O, which is the full circuit, and those that do generally take between 9 to 11 days. It’s wise to build in contingency, especially if you’re travelling a long way and have a finite period of time, as you can be delayed getting over Paso Jon Gardiner if the weather is bad. Starting at Laguna Amargo, we walked the O – approximately 140 kilometres (depending on how many side trips you make) – in 8 days, broken down as follows:

​When to goYou know what they say about Patagonia … expect four seasons in one day. True story! We did this trek in November, the austral spring. We love to travel in shoulder season; it’s generally more affordable, there are fewer people and the weather can be great. We were exceptionally lucky with the weather and barely saw any rain. There was snow higher up, but not so much it obstructed our way over the Paso. And as for the infamous Patagonian wind; it was strong. But not as strong as it can be, so we weren’t blown off any mountains which was a bonus. It’s strongest during January and February, which is also the busiest period and when you’re most likely to be bitten to buggery by mosquitos. The latter days of our trek were actually hot and we wished we’d packed short sleeve layers. But, typically you can expect to get wet. The trekking season for hiking is late November to late April.

​How to get thereThere are a number of options for getting to Torres del Paine National Park. Most people go via Santiago in Chile, then an internal flight to Punt Arenas and then on to Puerto Natales – the gateway town - to stock up on supplies before taking a final bus in to Torres del Paine national park. We’re not most people. We chose to go via Buenos Aires as we wanted to spend some time exploring there at the end of our trip (definitely worth it!) So we flew London to Buenos Aires, then an internal flight on to El Calafate the next day where we stayed overnight before taking the early bus to Torres del Paine (a 5 hour trip) and the start of the walk.

The drawback of our approach was thus:

Getting a bus directly from El Calafate into the park, meant we had to carry all our supplies (including food) with us from there. As it happens, we brought everything with us from the UK, but could have stocked up in El Calafate.

Travelling from Argentina meant crossing the border into Chile; and you can’t take meat, cheese, veg, fruit or seeds across the border, so that limited our food supplies … hence the unimaginative diet!

We could have taken a bus from El Calafate to Puerto Natales first to stock up on fresh food, then on to the start of the walk, but this would have taken extra time we didn’t have.

It took some work to find (and translate) the bus routes / timetables and then we had to contact them via phone / email to make the booking but all logistics ran smoothly. Be careful when booking your flights that you check what days the buses are running (they don’t run every day and run different schedules at different times of year), or you may end up being stuck for a few days before you can get to the park and begin walking. In the end, we organised our bus via the hostel in El Calafate.

So, it took us 2.5 days to get from London to taking our first steps on the trail. Day 1 was spent flying from London to BA. On day 2 we took the internal flight to El C and spent the afternoon resting up and just mooching around the small town. On day 3 we got the coach early, arrived early afternoon to TdP and set out on the trail towards the first Refugio.​

Camp Los Perros

Where to stayYou have options in Torres del Paine. Facilities on the W section of the trail are more sophisticated; the refugios are better provisioned, and there is a hotel at Las Torres should you want a bit of luxury. At the refugios, your choice is to pay for a bed in a dorm or camp. On the rest of the circuit, there are places where camping is your only option, such as Camp Los Perros. If you chose to camp, or you are doing the full circuit, you can take your own tent, or hire one! The tents for hire are pitched for you at each refugio or camp.

​The refugios in Torres del Paine national park are managed by one of two organisations: Fantastico Sur and Vertice Patagonia. You will need to book in advance, especially if travelling during peak season, as spaces in each refugio are limited.

What to packWhatever you take, you’ve got to carry it, day after day, up mountain, down forest and through bog. You will lose some weight each day as you consume your food and gas supplies, but it doesn’t seem to make much difference. You can hire ready pitched tents (which we did) and sleeping bags (I took my own) but check before hand as not every refugio offers this. It saves on pack weight and the extra effort of pitching camp every day, and on the one night we got rain (and we were lucky, you should expect more), it saved packing up and carrying a wet tent. Everything else we needed on the trail, we took with us. We also took a set of clothes with us for exploring Buenos Aires at the end of our stay which we left in storage in the hostel in El Calafate.

Things we should have packed but didn’t: short sleeve layer; sponge (for washing up greasy noodle bowls!); knee support (or more drugs)

Things that came along for the ride but could have stayed home: poo shovel! (yep, really)

FoodMost of the refugios on the W part of the circuit serve food. One or two even have a small shop with basic supplies. On the backside of the O, it’s possible to buy meals from a limited menu at some of the refugios, but it is advised to take food with you. On very few sections will you pass a refugio serving food around lunchtime! We decided to take, and carry, all our food (and the means to prepare it).

If you’re travelling to the start of the trail through Chile, then you can buy supplies before entering the park. But be warned, if you want to go via Buenos Aires and El Calafate, rather than Santiago, and you do not plan to stop anywhere in Chile before hitting the trail, you will have to take all your food with you across the border from Argentina. And you CANNOT take any fresh (vegetable, meat or dairy) food across the border. This is the reason for our very boring diet. We took pretty much everything with us from the UK. People we met on the trail who had come via Puerto Natales and stocked up on delicious cheese and meats came very close to being mugged for their food!

When it comes to trail food, nutrition and weight are the primary concerns. We tend to feel less hungry when trekking so went with ease of preparation and weight as our priorities. We took a jet boil to boil water for coffee, porridge and noodles.Our supplies included:

Porridge sachets for breakfastTube of condensed milk – because porridge made with water is nastyPorridge toppings (seeds, nuts, etc for protein)Noodles – endless damn noodles – for supper. Every damn night.Trail bars, mini cheddars, pork scratchingsJelly – fruity, in the absence of actual fruit, provides a different texture & calciumChocolate

You could, of course, take dehydrated food (bleurgh), pasta or rice (heavy), but we like noodles (at least for the first few nights), they’re quick and easy to cook and light to carry.​